[Korean Culture & Language] Would you like to come over for some ramen

 

Hello, this is Uptempo Marketers!


Let’s say you’re on a date with a Korean, and you walk them home. What does it signify when they ask you to come over for some ramen at the end of a date? “라면 먹고 갈래? (Would you like to come over for some ramen)?” is equivalent to “Do you want to Netflix and chill?”.


The movie ‘봄날은 간다(One Fine Spring Day)’ is where the phrase first became popular. Ramen plays a significant role in the plot and has a variety of symbolic implications. In the movie, ramen symbolizes love. The first ramen that appears in the movie is raw ramen. Eun-soo takes a bite of raw ramen as she asks Sang-woo if he wants to sleep over. The raw ramen represents the state of mind in which one blindly likes the other (as raw).

The next ramen in the movie is “떡 라면(rice cake ramen)”. When Sang-woo asks “무슨 라면? (how would you like your ramen?),” she answers “오늘은 떡라면. 김치도 넣어(I want rice cake ramen today. Add Kimchi, too”. This ramen scene implies that Eun-soo doesn’t love or accept Sang-woo as he is anymore. Instead, she tries to alter his personality to accommodate herself. 

When Sang-woo tells Eunsoo that his dad wants to invite her to Kimjang (a tradition where family members gather to make Kimchi together), Eun-soo says she can’t make Kimchi. While ramen is an instant food that requires minimal preparation, Kimchi requires time and effort. She would have to spend a ‘long time’ with his ‘family’ in order to make Kimchi. So, Kimchi represents a ‘commitment,’ and ramen represents ‘instant love’ in this movie.

To Eun-soo, their relationship was just instant love. When Eun-soo asks Sang-woo to make ramen, Sang-woo gets angry and replies “내가 라면으로 보여? Do I look like a ramen to you?”. Unfortunately, he was ramen to her. She didn’t want commitment.

They drink coffee together after a breakup. Usually, two people share the same pot of ramen instead of making two separate ones. It brings them closer. However, they can order different types of coffee to suit their preferences. Do you see why ramen can be associated with love in Korea?

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